Harmony Kitchen

May 29, 2026 Recipe of the Week

This week at our house, we are celebrating pork.

We have a fresh inventory of all the cuts we love and chances are we will sample all of them in the coming days.

We are starting with an all time favourite: pulled pork.

There are so many thing that I love about this dish:

• I can make an enormous batch with very little prep time
• It flat-pack freezes really well
• It packs a lot of flavour so a little goes a long way

But be warned, although there is not a lot of active time for this recipe, long cooking is what makes this dish so delicious. Like really long. 8-10 hours long. It is a great recipe for a day when you have a bunch of things to do at home and this can be cooking away in the background. Or, if you feel comfortable with having your oven on overnight, you can prep this before bed and have pulled pork ready to make lunches in the morning. Yum.

One of my favourite pulled pork meals is tacos. A few years ago my sister-in-law taught me how to make corn tortillas from scratch and I couldn’t believe how quickly they came together AND how much better they are than any other tortillas I had tried. Not to mention that they are extremely budget friendly.

I love them with pulled pork, spanish rice, salsa, guac, creme fraiche and quick pickled onions but I have also found that just about anything can be turned into an awesome taco. Scrambled eggs, rice and beans, random fridge leftovers? Add a bit of salsa and you have one awesome taco!

Pantry items: For pulled pork: -kosher salt (about a teaspoon, for seasoning the meat and a pinch for the pork glaze) -1/4 c brown sugar -1 tbsp dijon mustard -1 tsp ground pepper -1/4 tsp chipotle powder For tortillas: -2 cups nixtamalized masa harina -1/2 tsp salt -1 1/4 cups warm water

Equipment:

For pulled pork:

• sheet pan
• mixing bowl
• measuring cups and spoons
• dutch oven or other oven safe pan
• kitchen twine (optional)
• cutting board and 2 large forks

For tortillas:

• mixing bowl and spoon or spatula
• heavy plastic bag, cut to line press
• tortilla press or rolling pin
• cast iron skillet or griddle
• fish spatula (optional)

Method

For the pulled pork, start by thawing the meat in the refrigerator the day before (or in the microwave if you foget!)

Once thawed, place on a sheet pan and liberally salt both sides to help flavour and tenderize the meat (in these photos I am using large chops, that is just what we had on hand and they work well if that is what you have as long as you use a well marbled cut).

Leave the seasoned pork on the counter for about an hour so that the salt can be pulled inside the meat to work its magic. If you need to leave it longer, cover it up and pop it in the fridge.

Turn the oven to 475 to preheat.

While the oven is pre-heating, prepare your glaze.

Remove the leaves from fresh thyme (or use ~1/4 the amount in dried) then mix with maple syrup, brown sugar, fermented scape paste (or use garlic if it is in season), chipotle powder, dijon mustard, salt and pepper

Tie the roast/chops tightly or pack tightly in a dutch oven to hold them together and allow even cooking. Make sure you place the fat side facing up.

Place, uncovered, in the oven for 15 minutes to caramelize/sear, then turn the temperature to 200 degrees, set the timer for 8 hours and walk away. Turn the oven light on if you like so you can watch it slowly turn golden, caramelized and delicious but don’t open the door and risk losing the gentle heat.

After 8 hours, take it out and have a look. If your meat is tender and falling apart, leave it out to cool before shredding/mashing it with two forks. If it is not yet fall-apart tender, make sure everything is covered in the rendered fat and juices, cover the pot and pop it back in the oven for another hour or so.

When the meat is nice and tender and cooled enough to work with, pull it out of the juice and rendered fat, a bit at a time, and shred/mash it with two forks.

Strain the solids from the liquids and skim off excess fat before adding just enough juice back into the shredded pork for it to be moist and taste just right. Adjust seasoning by adding some pinches of salt and pepper as needed.

Want to go all in and make home made tortillas too?

You can make these in the time it takes to thaw a package of pre-made frozen corn tortillas.

Start by preparing your press by cutting a piece of folded plastic to line it (or to cover both sides of the dough while you roll if using a rolling pin). This will keep the dough from sticking to the surfaces.

Then lightly oil and pre-heat your grill to medium-high while you mix your dough.

Mix together 2c nixtamalized masa harina with 1/2 tsp of salt then slowly add 1 1/4 c warm water while stirring until combined. Knead the mixture for about 30 seconds until it all comes together and has the consistency of playdough. Adjust by adding a bit more water or masa harina to get the texture just right. That’s it, dough is done!

Break off golf ball sized pieces and roll into balls. Press or roll between two pieces of plastic until the tortilla is ~1/16 inch thick.

Carefully peel off of the plastic and place on the hot grill. Allow it to set for 15 seconds then flip (a fish spatula makes this delicate work easy). Cook for one minute, flip and cook again for one minute. The tortilla will puff up when you cook it on the second side. Keep the tortillas warm by wrapping them in a clean tea towel or a towel-lined tortilla holder while you cook the rest.

Serve with pulled pork, rice and beans, salsa, guacamole, creme fraiche, cilantro, pickled onion, a sqeeze of lime or any other delicious treats you can dream of.

Time Savers, Storage Tips and Spin off Recipes

• Pulled pork freezes really well. Consider freezing any left overs in flat packs (thaws more quickly that way) so that you can pull them out for pizza, tacos, sandwiches, chili or so many other things.
• Want an even fancier option? Try making pork rillettes with some of the leftover pulled pork.
• Start by separating fat, juices and pulled pork. Place some pulled pork in a stand mixer with a mixing paddle and start mixing slowly then increase speed to medium. Slowly add in some of the rendered fat and juices that formed in the pulled pork pan, a few tablespoons at a time. Keep mixing and tasting until reaching a creamy pate texture. Add salt as you taste, keeping in mind that this is served cold (cold dishes require more salt).
• This is great with bread and cheese and also freezes really well.
• To freeze, fill the bottom of a small mason jar with rillettes and cover the top with reserved fat. Save it for a gourmet summer day picnic:).
• Tortillas unfortunately do not save as well. They are at their best fresh off the grill. If you have leftover, consider using them to make enchiladas or a tortilla-lasagne by layering leftover tortillas with toppings in a lasagne pan and baking, as you would lasagne.

Did you Know?

Corn flour used to make tortillas (masa) is traditionally “nixtamalized”. This means that the dried corn used to make it has been cooked and soaked in lime. This process was discovered by the Mayan and Aztec peoples who relied on corn as a staple in their diets. Soaking in lime serves a number of important purposes:

1. It allows the starches to hydrate properly so that the corn flour can form a dough (have you ever tried to make dough with cornmeal?!)
2. It increases the bioavailability of nutrients like nicin and calcium, which are otherwise bound in a way that prevents absorption and can lead to nutritional deficiencies
3. It removes bitter flavours and replaces this with a sweet, toasted flavour.

This Recipe’s Plant Count: pulled pork: 7 tortillas: just one, plus an infinite number of toppings

Time Required: pulled pork: up to 10 hours, 30 minutes active tortillas: 20 minutes

Servings: pulled pork: hard to say! This batch will last our family several meals, combined with lots of other ingredients. tortillas: 12 small